quinta-feira, março 15, 2007

52 arrestees that face minor offences have been released and will be on trial on Monday, by the police court. Another one that is to stand trial on Monday is still detained. 9 people with felony charges will be brought before the Interrogator and the Public Prosecutor on Monday, who will decide whether they will be detained till the trial.

The advocates are talking about a political trial, since the Public Prosecutor's attitude indicated that the juridical details are not of importance, as there are clear orders to proceed with the charges.

Protest and solidarity marches took place on Thursday night and Friday in a lot of cities: Athens, with 6-7.000 ppl participating [photos]. Thessaloniki [photos], Yannena, Patra, Syros [reports]. A march in Thessaloniki also on Saturday 10th.

Although the frame law for the functioning of the universities was voted on Thursday, nothing indicates that the students are to step backwards. So far, more than 290 Greek faculties are occupied, The recent repression in Athens was reflected to the coutryside as well, as there was heavy police repression in small towns, while half of the arrestees are originally students from regional universities. Therefore, all around Greece, subsequent solidarity activities are taking place. Local student assemblies are organised in order to support the arrestees with the essential documents, to organise everyday demonstrations and inform the local community of the brutality that the students have been facing.

The new frame law for the functioning of the Universities was voted on Thursday afternoon, after the decision of the government to start the process in the Parliament despite the public outrage; since students, pupils, teachers and academics have been in an ongoing struggle since May 2006, including occupations of schools and faculties, strikes and demonstrations.As the state media reported, only the governmental party voted for the new law, while the rest of them decided to leave the room after the preliminary poll. Meanwhile, more than 35000 of students, including teachers and academics, were demonstrating in the streets of Athens, in order to surround the Parliament.